President Elect Obama and Educational Reform

I was doing some detailed research online and studying how things might change insofar as education with the new president in office. As you know I support education via my charities - http://www.childrenofthecity.org/ and also on my educational website http://www.roccobasile.org/. But with the new president, there will be new policies. It is important that we all know what these are.

President elect Obama has been a leader on educational issues throughout his career, and in the Illinois State Senate he was a leader on early childhood education, helping to create the state's Early Learning Council. In the U.S. Senate, Obama has also been a leader in working to make college more affordable. His first bill sought to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,100.

Obama also helped pass legislation to achieve that goal in the recent improvements to the Higher Education Act, and he has also introduced legislation to create Teacher Residency Programs and to increase federal support for summer learning opportunities.

Unlike some of the other early childhood education plans, the Obama-Biden plan places key emphasis at early care. Their "Zero to Five" plan will provide support to young children and their parents, and unlike other early childhood education plans, the Obama-Biden plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama and Biden plan to create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school. They will:

• Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama and Biden will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.
• Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama and Biden will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.

Here are other key promises:

Barack Obama will reform No Child Left Behind
Both Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. That is why he plans to improve the assessments used to track student progress, and measure a student's readiness for college.

Invest in early childhood education
This comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children as well as their parents, helping states move towards a voluntary, universal pre-school system.

Make college affordable to all Americans
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have plans to create what they are calling a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000 in exchange for community service. It will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.

Obama has some aggressive plans. Check out his Education Website. -- Rocco Basile

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